A former police officer from the North working for a security services company has been shot dead in Afghanistan.

US troops attacked a Taliban-held town in southern Afghanistan today as part of operations to secure the country ahead of presidential elections.

Nato said today its troops killed 10 militants, including a senior commander in southern Afghanistan.

A joint Afghan-Nato operation in a volatile region in the country’s dangerous south has killed 40 militants, including the Taliban’s leader in that region, a government official said today.

Roadside bombs killed seven Nato soldiers in southern Afghanistan as militants struck back during the Alliance’s biggest anti-Taliban offensive.